]]>https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/2339/feed/1audi666See Ya Later!https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/see-ya-later-2/
https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/see-ya-later-2/#commentsWed, 14 Dec 2011 14:23:46 +0000http://hellopa.wordpress.com/?p=2336Continue reading →]]>It’s been real. It’s been fun. And it’s been really fun, but I am done blogging over here. NO WORRIES THOUGH! I just have a new blog home. I would like to introduce you to…

Their cases were filled with Christmas themed desserts. We grabbed some donuts and a red velvet cake. Not a bad way to end the weekend.

]]>https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/the-weekend-6/feed/7lchesnuttHungover Cat PartyLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnLimestone Cross at the KilnVegan TreatsVegan TreatsVegan TreatsThe Weekendhttps://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/the-weekend-5/
https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/the-weekend-5/#commentsMon, 05 Dec 2011 14:02:47 +0000http://hellopa.wordpress.com/?p=2312Continue reading →]]>I know I don’t have to explain myself, but I still feel like I should. Things have been kind of boring around here. Not in a bad way, it’s definitely been good, and we have settled into a nice routine. Unfortunately being busy with work and doing the same sort of things every weekend makes for boring photos.

We didn’t see each other much last week so Eric and I decided to go out to dinner Friday night. We went back on forth on a nice dinner or pizza, and of course pizza won! I don’t think I will ever grow tired of the Yukon Gold pizza at Blackbird. It’s like all my food dreams rolled into one.

Saturday morning we went back and forth on going out to brunch or cooking at home. Cooking pancakes at home won out. We always use the perfect pancakes recipe from Vegan Brunch, it never lets us down.

We spent a good part of Saturday seeing how far north we could walk from our neighborhood until it got too sketchy. Also known as, how far north can we go so that homes will be cheap and inexpensive but we won’t get killed.

We have 2 windows in our kitchen and during the afternoon there are two very bright patches that the cats take over. This happens every single day.

Our overhead kitchen light went out so we had to move the table into the living room.

All in all it was an epic feast.

]]>https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/a-feast/feed/4lchesnuttThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingPhiladelphia Marathon – #2https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/philadelphia-marathon-2/
https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/philadelphia-marathon-2/#commentsMon, 21 Nov 2011 14:33:14 +0000http://hellopa.wordpress.com/?p=2304Continue reading →]]>Wow. Between MCM and yesterday I had a cold for 2 weeks, the flu for one weekend and zero meaningful training runs. But I ended up running the full marathon and kicked some butt in the process.

With MCM I had so much other stuff to worry about that my mind wasn’t really worried about the race. With Philly I had nothing to worry about except the race.

Eric and I woke up early on Sunday morning and rode our bikes to the start at the Art Museum.

My corral was pretty far back so I just hung out for a while. I promise I was actually in a good mood.

Miles 1 – 7: I had a blast running through the city and was just kind of on auto pilot. I got to see Eric a couple of times and Krista once which definitely helped my spirits!

Miles 8 – 11: This was through West Philly and Fairmount Park, the only “hilly” part of the course. But these hills had nothing on me this time. I ran them well and even talked to a guy from Texas who is running the Dallas marathon in a 2 weeks.

Miles 12 – 14: I was most worried about this part of the race. This is where the half and full split and I thought it would be really hard mentally. I wanted to get in a really good place mentally for this part of the race so I put on my favorite song and took note that nothing hurt on my body and I felt good and I could get through this. I saw Eric right before the split and was able to power through without any problems.

Miles 15 – 18: This part of the course was along Kelly Drive. Eric was able to ride next to me for all of it which was great. I got to see Leslie which was a huge boost. The course does a weird back track over the Falls Bridge and I hit a big wall mentally at this point. I was tired and my stomach was bothering me and I was burping a lot. I just wasn’t in a good place.

Miles 19-25: Right after the Falls Bridge my friend Kirin was standing to the side ready to meet me to run. She was my saving grace for this race. She ran with me to Manayunk and all the way to mile 25. She encouraged me and kept me going and fed me pretzels. I owe her so much for what she did during the race. Once we got back on Kelly Drive I felt a lot better and knew I would be able to finish the marathon.

Miles 25 – 26.2: Right after Kirin left I got a surge of energy and cruised through to the finish, which was the best feeling to have.

I am so happy I decided to run the Philadelphia Marathon. The best part was getting to see so many friends along the way. I finished in 4:17, a minute faster than MCM. But I didn’t hurt as bad during the run as I did at MCM.

I think next year I want to focus on quality over quantity (if you can call 2 marathons a lot). I am really excited to take it easy the next few weeks then buckle down with some serious speed work next year.

Oh yeah, remember how I rode my bike to the marathon? Well that meant I had to ride my bike home. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but seeing cabs drive by was really tempting and in the future I might just take a cab.

I have spent the past 2 weeks fighting off an annoying cold that despite all my efforts to get rid of it, it just won’t go away. Then to top it all off Friday afternoon I came down with the flu and spent most of the weekend shivering in a ball on the couch complaining to Eric.

On Sunday I was definitely still sick, but decided to get out and run. Which sounds really stupid, and was stupid, but see, I am signed up for another marathon that is this coming Sunday. And even though I just ran a marathon 2.5 weeks ago, I feel severely under trained for this one. Because I have spent the past 2 weeks sick.

I am kind of at a loss as to what to do on Sunday, although here are my options:
A: Not run.
B. Run the half marathon.
C. Run the full marathon.
And I really, really want to choose option C because I want to experience that high I felt 2.5 weeks because it was kind of addicting. And probably the closest I will ever feel to a superstar athlete even though I am a mediocre runner who drinks too much beer.

If you are in Philly you should definitely check out the marathon on Sunday and perhaps you will see me running (I’ll be wearing a shirt that says Lauren on it). And then everyone should eat pizza and drink beer with me.

uh, my black and white skills are definitely lacking. i need to get back on top of that.

]]>https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/whats-that/feed/12lchesnuttBear Creek CXhttps://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/bear-creek-cx/
https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/bear-creek-cx/#commentsWed, 09 Nov 2011 13:13:52 +0000http://hellopa.wordpress.com/?p=2296Continue reading →]]>Raced a bit of cyclocross last weekend and because I know there are mass amounts small handful of people that enjoy road bikes in the mud, ill post a quick synapses/few photos. This year the venue was changed from Beer Creek to Emmaus where they have a weekly practice due to the snow storm from the previous week. The C race started at 10am (I was a fan) and I think was roughly sold out with 50 registered. The course felt fast during my warm-up lap with most of the mud sections still frozen. I didn’t know how this was going to play out with the thawing and actually didn’t think about that until during the race. The course was pretty much all flat with 2 barriers and no run-ups. I got to the line and about 4 rows back, not too bad. The start was in grass and a slight up hill for a while before any turns. I was hoping to make up 10 or so places at the beginning but the course was tight. This was my first PACX race and didn’t know that they had call-ups in the C race. After rambling off what seemed like 20+ names I’m now sitting in row 5 or 6. The start in front of me is slow, I see the top few guys get a big jump on everyone else. I hammer and try to make up and many places as I can before it clumps up at the first turn. I think I moved up ~7 spots and sitting in the 20s somewhere. The first lap felt fast and I was being fairly cautious as my tires are worthless and I only got one full lap in before hand. Yeah I put a foot out a lot, and as I said, if you don’t like my poor turning ability then pass me During the second lap I passed a group of riders and was sitting 6th and coming out of the barrier section into a fast 90 degree left turn and went down hard. I wasn’t expecting it at all but as people rode that turn and the grass/mud thawed it became really slick. I dropped my chain and tried to ride to back on, didn’t work. Bleh. I finally cranked it back on but not before getting passed by 5 or 6 people, I need to get better at that. After that I wasn’t in it mentally, I knew there was no chance of getting catching the top few riders and was a bit pissed. I kept cranking and because of the various double backs heard the encouragement of a few friends racing. I also noticed that random people in this race were really nice, saying words of encouragement while you passed them, I liked that. Anyways during the next lap I was able to re-pass the group that had overtaken me while I dropped my chain and saw 5th place a bit ahead of me. It was hard to gauge how far off a wheel you where due to the course layout. I was hoping to close the gap but it never happened. Ended up doing 5 laps and got 6th overall. Not that excited about the performance, but it was a learning experience. Grass turns are definitely not my strong suit, so its definitely something I need to work on. Had the GoPro on but it didn’t save any videos… I was really hoping to post the first lap and the crash, oh well.
After the C race was the B race. Was hoping to encourage the Team Tom’s boys. I shot a few photos, taunted, and watched people take turns a lot faster than I could. At some point Ellis flatted and I had to run to the car to grab my bike as I didn’t have room in the car for his pit bike as well. We made a seamless bike swap but he had lost 2 places while riding on the rim and was sitting in 6th. Ryan had a battle for 1st and ended up winning the B race. After that I pitted for Jeff in the 45+ race which he went on to win. Congrats to both of you.

After riding we ate, talked, then it was game time. Neither Ellis or I had ever been to the beer store/mecca known as Shangy’s. Needless to say we were both excited. Luckily it was all cases so we didn’t get too wild, but we spent over an hour there pondering our next move. They have cases of four loco to slyfox to $300 cases of mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel. Anyways it was dangerous and too much to choose from. After seeing Jeff come in, spend 10 minutes and pull the trigger on various cases of Belgium goodness, we decided to go ‘cheap’ and stay domestic.

New to me.

Took a bit of finagling but theres always room for a case or two/three.

Im thinking next weekend of doing Spring Mountain Crossasaurus Awesome, not sure if I’ll race the C race or try out the B race + SS race… hopefully learn how to use the GoPro for a sweet video as well.

]]>https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/bear-creek-cx/feed/3audi666IMG_2991IMG_3028IMG_3036IMG_3089IMG_3091IMG_3095IMG_3099IMG_3100IMG_3103The Weekendhttps://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/the-weekend-4/
https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/the-weekend-4/#commentsMon, 07 Nov 2011 14:34:38 +0000http://hellopa.wordpress.com/?p=2280Continue reading →]]>I cut out of work early on Friday and caught the Chinatown bus to Brooklyn for the night. Eric stayed back in Philly because he had bike stuff to do (like always).
Some of my good friends from high school live there so we all got together for a Lubbock, TX party.

We met up at Pine Box Rock Shop, an all vegan bar in Bushwick. How rad is that? If only Philly had one (to add to our all vegan pizza shop and coffeeshop).

I stayed with my bestest friend forever Rachele and Saturday morning we rolled out of bed and headed to Champs Bakery for brunch. Rachele is always game to hit up NYC/Brooklyn vegan places with me which is why is she is so rad. I was excited to go because since the last time Eric and I went they have added a food menu.

We both ordered pancakes and shared a side of potatoes and tempeh bacon. The food was really good. I can’t wait to go back with Eric.

I had plans of getting back to Philly early but the subways were taking forever and the bus was late (I guess that’s what you get for $10).

I’ve been fighting off a cold for the past week but am still planning on running the Philly marathon in 2 weeks so I set out for a long run. I spent the rest of the day cleaning, doing school work and doing work work. Then celebrated by drinking a mid-day beer.

Earlier this week I saw the cutest photos of Melted Crayon Pumpkins and decided to get crafty. It turned out as an easy project.

Fingers crossed this cold goes away so I can get some more confidence in running another marathon!

]]>https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/the-weekend-4/feed/5lchesnuttIMG_4661IMG_4663IMG_4676IMG_4677_MG_0133_MG_0123The Day Afterhttps://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/the-day-after/
https://hellopa.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/the-day-after/#commentsThu, 03 Nov 2011 19:30:20 +0000http://hellopa.wordpress.com/?p=2257Continue reading →]]>After the marathon there was lots of eating and drinking. We picked up this beer to celebrate.

My parents stuck around and on Monday we got out and did some sight seeing. My legs were still pretty sore and tired, but walking and moving really helped them.

Me and my parents in front of the White House. They are pretty awesome and I am still really happy that they came to DC to watch me run.

We did a hop on, hop off tour and went around the city. DC has such pretty buildings.

To wrap up the day we headed to Arlington Cemetery and took a short tour.

And watched the changing of the guards, but my parents missed it because they are slowpokes.